Traffic in Brighton & Hove

Written by Paul Elgood and published in Latest 7 Magazine on Thu 10th Mar 2005

Three years ago I just gave up and got rid of my car. Living in the city centre in the heart of Brunswick, its probably the best thing I've done to improve the quality of my life.

I've hardly missed it. But we can't all just change our lives overnight and there is no doubt about it, tackling the traffic gridlock of our city is one of the key local issues we face. People who drive at peak times and weekends experience congestion, sit in jams, and cannot easily park. An early warning of what might happen in the future occurred last summer when the council's air pollution monitoring at Lewes Road, Preston Circus and Grand Parade recorded higher than expected levels of pollution. It is no accident that these three areas attract high levels of traffic and are on main routes into and out of the city. With major new developments taking place on the seafront and the continuing popularity of the city as a place to visit, this situation will reach intolerable levels if we don't act now. The council has to find a way of enabling people to move around easily without adding to the burden of traffic coming into the centre. This can only be achieved by delivering a comprehensive package of improvements and an attractive, cheap and integrated public transportation system. Part of the solution is to invest in genuine alternatives to the car - fast, economical and comfortable public transport that people will use and highway improvements that will give cyclists and pedestrians smooth and safe travel. We have to give residents, employees and visitors real choice about the best way of travelling in and around the city. That means Brighton & Hove has to take some tough decisions to free up our city centre. It means embracing opportunities such as Rapid Transport, facing up to the need of an environmentally-sound Park & Ride scheme, developing the already successful ideas such as car clubs and then thinking outside of the box and with radical solutions to our traffic nightmare.